Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Table 100 - Flowood

I’ve been sitting on this review for far too long especially when you consider that it was late last spring when the Eat Here restaurant group added Table 100 to their fold of restaurants. Described as a restaurant with “a turn-of-the-century New Orleans feel and a euro-american bistro fare”, Table 100 quickly stood out from the chain restaurant fare that dominates Lakeland Drive. However what started as a planned effort to let the new restaurant jitters work their way out of the system eventually turned into weeks of apathy and I’m not quite sure why. If you look through the menu, you’ll see an appealing assortment of new American dishes such as steaks and pork chops, roasted chicken breast, and a pasta dish or two. There are even a few truly Southern dishes such as shrimp & grits, but there was nothing on the menu that truly stood out to me....expect for the Table 100 burger. Finally ground beef curiosity got the better of me and after a few drives down Lakeland, a clear picture of Table 100 began to emerge.

As with many good meals, my first time at Table 100 began with a soup.

Capped with a layer of melted provolone & gruyere, this French onion soup was a precocious beginning to my relationship with Table 100.

Underneath the layer of melted dairy, a cup of sweet and deep onion flavor was waiting.

Continuing the good favor that had been built by the French onion soup, an order of smoked salmon spread was next.

This spread was a beautiful balance of smoky flavor, salmon oiliness and creamy texture.

Unfortunately, the French dip, one of the low points at Table 100, rounded out my first venture and I had such high hopes for the sandwich.

If there were a few highlights of this dish they would be the pleasantly pungent wasabi cream and well melted provolone.

However the combination of overcooked, dry as a bone beef and a watery au jus meant no amount of cheese and cream could save this sandwich.

Disappointed as I may have been with the end of my first excursion to Table 100, the next revealed what may be their strongest point, the Table 100 burger.

While this particular burger may not have been cooked to order, every bite was a healthy medium and overflowing with beefy flavor.Unfortunately, the juicy goodness of this burger did make for a puddle in the plate and greasy lettuce but that excess was a small price to pay.

Don’t let the white balance of the picture fool you, this burger was well cooked. The creamy sauce, the crispy and smoky bacon, the chargrilled and well-crusted patty, each component of the burger worked in harmony. However, there was a caveat. Eat quickly or the sheer juiciness will cause the bun to dissolve in your hands.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t touch on the mac and cheese at Table 100.

At that point in time, the mac and cheese was still graced with presence of bacon and that addition served these tender noodles well.

Of course a blend of cheeses and a layer of toasted panko breadcrumbs never hurts either.

It was time to see how Table 100 would handle dinner service. With a slightly larger menu to choose from, I had a hard time passing up a chance see to see the Table 100 version of shrimp and grits.

Departing from the more traditional creamy grits with shrimp, this version of the southern classic featured a trio of bacon wrapped and bbq sauce drizzled shrimp propped up against a fried grit cake.

While the shrimp were infused with the smoky goodness of the bacon, the soggy texture of the ham hock jus soaked bacon detracted from the overall product.As for the ham hock jus, it was red eye gravy on overdrive, rich and an almost perfect match for the grit cake.Speaking of the grit cake, while quite well cooked, I can only imagine that the more traditional creamy grits would have been better suited to soak up the ham hock jus.

However one product that didn’t suffer was the greens on top of the grit cake. Crisp and flavored with a pleasant pepperiness, these greens may not have fit in particularly well with the rest of the dish components, but they were a star in their own right.

For an entrée, I was curious to see how Table 100 would handle the double cut pork chop.Flame grilled and served with grilled asparagus, a mushroom reduction, and another grit cake, this pork chop came with plenty of appealing grill marks.

Juicy in the middle, this pork chop was lightly seasoned and relied on the subtle pork flavor to do the heavy lifting…and it did in spades.

While the asparagus were perfectly grilled, I was conflicted with the mushroom reduction. Although the reduction was peppery, rich, and deeply flavored, it quickly overpowered the flavor of the pork. I would have preferred a simple pan sauce to compliment the pork but this was still a quality dish either way.

In the end, even with a low point or two, there’s no denying that Table 100 is a solid addition to the Jackson dining landscape not to mention Flowood and Rankin County. Each time, I found the food to be approachable, consistent, and full of well rounded flavors. So while the menu may not call to those with a sense of culinary daring, at the very least, Table 100 is worth a visit just for their burger, but you might want to bring a bib…just in case.

-Since I began taking notes for this review, Table 100 has changed their burger. The eponymous cheeseburger now features dry aged, grass fed beef from Charlie Munford’s Two Run Farm. It’s a whole different animal from the original Table 100 burger. The meat has a darker, richer flavor and one has to try it to really appreciate the difference in the beef.

1 comment:

I've only been to table 100 once, and afterward I filled out their online survey about the experience. We had only one real miss, overall the food was pretty good if unremarkable, but we ultimately left feeling like we just didn't have a meal that justified that kind of expense (and from the look of the menu on the website the things we found questionable are no longer served).

A couple of days later Al Roberts called me. he and Bill Latham are the owners of the Eat Here restaurants. This I was not expecting. He had my survey in front of him and we spoke for about 20 minutes about every dish we ate, all the complaints and all the praises. He told me to ask for him next time I went in (the only reason I haven't is bc I never get to that neck of the woods - but now a good friend is working there, so, who knows).

I was very impressed. Those guys aim to make things right, or at least as right as they can make things.

That said, I have noticed growing pains in their ventures, but they tend to get sorted out for the most part. I am looking forward to this French thing coming to the old AJ's on the lake.